Blindsided
by Soccer-Geek
Summary: A tragic accident has occurred, and Pie is not only scarred from the event, but blind. But was it really an accident? He returns to Earth, unaware that he is there for his own safety. All he knows is he's suddenly with the girl he said good-bye to two years previously and slowly fell in love with. He doesn't know she loves him, and will lie to her to make sure she doesn't. But why?
1. Prologue

**So, remember those rumors that I had a P/L story squirreled away? I wasn't kidding. It's not completely written yet, but it's over halfway done. So, ta da, here it is. Not making promises on when I'll update, though. I'm in my last week of classes and for some reason said "Why the heck not?" and uploaded this so, yeah.**

**Yes, yes, I'm working on Alien Ultimatum and Girl with a Porpoise. Those just aren't ready for posting yet. GwaP should be soon, though, and look a bit closer to Christmas for the first chapter of Alien Ultimatum.**

**This story is a mixture of romance and family, focusing predominately on Pie and Lettuce for the romance and the lovely Ikisatashi's for the family part. (This includes my OCs from the Alien Uprising Trilogy and A Change of Heart). I also make no promises about side pairings.**

**And, I feel it's fair to warn you all about this: I love Pie. So very much. Which is why for some reason I am very cruel to him and make him suffer. So this is going to be filled with Pie physical, mental and emotional whumpage. But it's okay, because he'll have Lettuce and all will be right in the universe! So, come for the hurt, stay for the comfort?**

**That all being said, I do not in any way, shape or form own Tokyo Mew Mew. I do lay claim to any Original Characters.**

Prologue:

Pie Ikisatashi didn't remember anything after the explosion.

He heard nothing, he smelled nothing, he felt nothing. And he saw nothing.

It was all black, all fuzzy, all foggy.

Though he had awakened a few times before then, he had no true memories until a week after the explosion, when he came-to in the hospital, surrounded by his family, his sister clutching his hand and his mother stroking his hair.

He hurt all over, his entire body stiff and aching. He moaned softly, trying to move. He tried to open his eyes but found that he couldn't. He didn't know why.

"Hey."

He instinctively turned his head towards the speaker of the voice. He knew that voice better than his own. It was that of his twin sister, his constant companion since birth.

"How are you feeling, Pie-Chan?" Rindou whispered softly, squeezing her brother's bandaged hand.

"Where am I?" He managed to mutter, his lips cracked, his throat dry and aching.

"You are in the hospital, son."

That was the voice of his father. Loving and protective. Pie felt his father's hand be placed on top of his head gently.

"Here, take a sip of this," Rin said softly, bringing a cup to Pie's lips, helping him take a few small sips of the cool water.

"Why am I here?" Pie asked after Rin took away the cup, then the memories came back.

Standing over his workstation in the laboratory. Rin had already left, waving good-bye and telling him not to stay too late. He promised her he would be back in time for dinner before going back to his microscope, he didn't think this would take more than an hour. His nose wrinkling at the smell of chemicals mixing, recognizing which ones they were and wondering which of the three other scientists that were currently there had combined those chemicals and for what reason. The cry of surprise, someone yelling for them to get out of there, a second too late. The resounding boom.

"Explosion," He muttered, answering his own question. "An experiment got out of control. The chemicals hit the flame of a burner."

He heard a sniffle. Another one of his sisters, most likely.

"You're lucky to be alive, Pie," Kish said somewhere near Pie's feet. "Very lucky."

Pie couldn't disagree with him, especially considering how close he had been to the blast.

"Why can I not open my eyes?" Pie asked. He slowly lifted his hand to the corner of his eye and found bandages wrapping around his head, covering his eyes. His brow furrowed. "Why are my eyes wrapped?"

He felt his mother's hand caress his cheek with one hand while the other lowered his arm back to the bed.

"Do not worry, sweetheart, you will be able to open your eyes soon," She promised. Pie could imagine her sweet, gentle smile. She gently kissed his temple, just above the bandages. "Just rest, let the Healers do their job and let your body heal. Sleep."

Pie drifted to sleep again, his breathing evening out again. That was where this memory ended for him. However, for the rest of his family, the memory lasted longer, was more painful.

Risa Ikisatashi moved her hand from her oldest child's face and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. Her husband, Curry, moved around the bed to hold her to him, stroking her hair.

"Everything will be alright," He whispered, trying to reassure her and himself in the same sentence.

"Kish isn't wrong," Sixteen year old Rirī muttered from where she held her nine year old sister Rōzu on her lap, gently playing with the younger girl's hair. "Pie is lucky."

"He really got beat up," Twelve year old Tart muttered from where he leaned against the wall, ducking his head to hide his own tear-filled eyes.

"Pie Onii-Chan is going to get better, right?" Six year old Éclair asked as she looked up at Kish, who held her as her lower lip trembled as she sniffled again, her eyes once more filling with tears.

Fifteen year old Kish gave his younger sister a smile and squeezed her.

"Yeah, of course he is," Kish said, kissing her forehead. "The Healers said he'll be all better in just a few weeks."

"Not all better," Eighteen year old Rin whispered. She squeezed her eyes shut then sat down on the floor, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. She started to cry, as she had every day since she and her siblings were called into the Healer's office, where their father sat grim-faced and their mother sobbed. "He might never be 'all better'."

Pie had been brought to the hospital with many burns from both the fire and the chemicals of the lab, with second-degree-burns covering much of the right side of his body, though there were places where the burns were third-degree. His left leg was broken in several places, as well as a fracture in his right leg, and his back was covered with shrapnel. He was covered with nicks and scratches from broken glass, some larger chunks imbedding themselves into the muscle. His spleen was ruptured, he had three broken ribs and a number of bruised organs. He had lost a lot of blood. The Healers worked for many hours over him, performing multiple surgeries to save his life and reduce infection. One of these surgeries including one to place what they hoped to be a temporary device next to his heart to keep it beating after stopping twice and fearing that it would happen again. Once they had taken care of the life-threatening concerns, more surgeries followed throughout the next week, and would continue to follow over the next few months.

But the worst of the damage…the worst of the damage was that during the explosion, some chemicals had splashed into Pie's eyes, damaging the various nerves, cells and tissues of the fragile organs.

The Healers had worked hard, doing everything they could, but they still could not foretell what the result would be until the bandages around Pie's eyes were removed. The medicines and surgeries may have worked… but at the same time they might not have.

"How are we going to tell him he could be blind?" Rin asked softly.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One:

It had been a bad day when the moment of truth came.

Pie had had longer periods of consciousness over the next week, though he still slept a lot. Every time he was examined by one of the Healers and awake, he always asked when the bandages were going to be removed from his eyes. He was always told 'soon'. Now the Healers were walking into the room, and telling him that it was time for them to be removed.

He was glad that the bandages were finally being removed. But something didn't feel quite right.

He had a feeling something was up when he heard Curry whisper to Kish, Rirī and Tart to take Rōzu and Éclair for a walk. He had protested, saying that he wanted to see his siblings.

The room had become deathly quiet at that point. Curry had muttered to the older three to go and they ushered their younger sisters out.

Pie had begun to panic. He was not one to panic or show emotion at all, but he felt like if there was an appropriate time to drop that, it was then. He turned his head in various directions to where he knew Rin and his parents were.

"I do not understand," He said. "What is wrong?"

"Pie," Risa whispered sadly, taking her son's hand, Rin taking the other. She took a deep breath and said, "I am so sorry, sweetheart. I am so sorry."

"I do not understand," Pie repeated, now angry instead of panicked. What weren't they telling him? "What is wrong?"

"Pie," Rin had whispered as she leaned her forehead against his shoulder.

No one needed to say it out loud.

He had heard it perfectly in his sister's thoughts.

He froze, trembling.

"This, this cannot be," He muttered. "I cannot be—"

"We still do not know if you are or are not," The Healer said soothingly. "We will not know for certain until we remove the bandages."

Pie wished this hadn't been said. Wished that his hopes hadn't been gotten up.

He sat perfectly still, not even shivering as he felt the cold metal of the blunt side of the scissors slide down his skin, cutting away the bandages. He followed every instruction, shielding his face with his hand, keeping his eyes closed until he was told to open them, relaxing as the Assistant Healer cleaned his eyes with a damp washcloth, not flinching. His heart was racing, his pulse thundering in his elven ears as the Healer said,

"You can open your eyes now."

He opened his eyes slowly, blinking a few times, looking up, hoping to see the faces of his mother, father and twin, their smiles when he saw them. Rin would hug him and laugh and kiss his cheek. His mother would breathe a sigh of relief and wrap her arms around him. His father would ruffle his hair and then go fetch his other siblings so that he could be attacked with their hugs.

But instead he only saw darkness.

Blackness.

Nothingness.

It was gone. In a large flash of light and a loud boom, everything was gone.

He wouldn't ever see his mother's smile again. His father's mischievous grin. The glimmer Kish got into his eyes as he came up with a plan to prank someone. The twinkling in Rin's eye as they simultaneously came up with the same idea. He would never know what Tart would look like when puberty was finished with him. What his sisters looked like in their wedding gowns or the men they would marry. He wouldn't be able to say who his nieces and nephews took after more. He couldn't spar hand to hand with Rirī. He couldn't read stories to Éclair at bedtime. He couldn't see one of Rin's finished drawings. He couldn't watch Rōzu as she was tested for the Military Academy. Couldn't teach Tart how to pilot a spaceship, the plans they had made to do so merely days before the accident obliterated. Couldn't sit and play chess with Kish anymore, testing both of their strategic skills. He wouldn't again see the planet he had fought so hard to save, read the books he loved, work on any more experiments.

And…

He would never see _her_ again.

The green-haired Mew Mew whom he and his brothers fought while on Earth, who strived for there to be peace between the two races.

The girl that continuously popped into his mind for reasons it took time—an almost embarrassing length of time—to realize why.

He wasn't sure who coined the phrase "absence makes the heart grow fonder" but they weren't wrong. Because it took the past two years for him to realize he loved her, and for that love to continue to increase with every wayward thought.

_Lettuce_.

But now… Now it was all gone.

He would never be able to lay eyes on those he cared about the most.

And he would never be able to get any his sight back. Ever.

"Oh, Pie," Rin had whispered, tears running down her face. She reached her hand out to cup her brother's cheek, but he turned away, blocking her out of his mind, severing his connection with her.

"Leave me alone," He whispered. "Just leave me alone."

"Pie," Rin whispered again, but her father put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at her father, who swallowed hard and nodded.

Choking back a sob, Rin stood up, kissing Pie's cheek before leaving. Curry helped Risa out of the room after she gave Pie a kiss on the cheek as well. The Healers left as well. They were all painfully aware that there was nothing they could do.

Pie laid there in the darkness and the silence. He closed his eyes and there was darkness. He opened his eyes, and it was still there. Unwavering. Not a single speck of light peeked in.

"Why?" He whispered, reaching up to touch the corner of his eye.

"Why?" He said in a louder whisper, gripping the blankets around him.

"Why?" He asked himself again, louder this time as he felt his anger, his grief, his pain begin to bubble over.

"WHY ME?" He finally shouted at the silence, taking his head in his hands, letting the tears flow, trying to curl up on his side as much as his other injuries would allow.

In the hall, Rin crumpled to the floor on her side, sobbing. She tried to push against the mental barriers Pie had put up, trying to get in to comfort him, to ease his pain, but he kept pushing her back.

_Pie, Pie, please…_

_Go away, Rin._

_Pie-_

_JUST LEAVE ME ALONE RINDOU!_

Rin looked up to see her mother kneeling beside her.

"This, this is something that, as much as we do not like it, it is something Pie has to come to terms with on his own," Risa said, tears running down her own cheeks. Rin threw her arms around her mother and they both sobbed, Curry wrapping his arms around both of them.

Some hours later, Pie finally lowered his shields. Rin knew he had finished his grieving for the moment and was ready to let others in. Quietly and carefully, she entered the room, kneeling beside him as he stared blankly up at the ceiling.

"It's going to be okay, you know," Rin said, stroking his arm. "The Healers say that your chances of recovery are very high. You'll need some physical therapy, but that's all."

"Except that I am blind," Pie said. He winced. It was the first time he had said the word out-loud. Doing so made it feel so final, unchangeable.

"It'll take time, but you'll adjust," Rin said, clasping his hand. "Yes, there are things you can't do, but there are still many more things you can do. So, will you at least try?"

Pie hesitated, but then he slowly nodded. Rin smiled and hugged him.

"Don't worry," She whispered into his ear. "We're all going to be right beside you, every step of the way."

"Why am I not surprised to hear that?" Pie asked, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

The next morning, a young Healer with straight blond hair and big green eyes entered the room and introduced herself as Tali Nukata, one of the physical therapy Healers at the hospital. After pleasantries were exchanged, Tali asked to speak with Pie alone and the other Ikisatashis left, with some grumbles from Rin.

Tali sat at the foot of Pie's bed and folded her arms over her chest, studying the young man before her. She shook her head, despite knowing he couldn't see the action.

"I honestly have no idea how you are still alive," Tali said. "But you are. And you are going to recover. It will not be an easy journey, but it will happen."

Pie nodded.

"When do we start?" He asked.

She smiled and chuckled some.

"You're eager, I like that," She said. "As soon as your legs are completely healed, and that is not too far away from what I'm told. You have another surgery scheduled in a few days and then sessions in the medpod. And that's just your legs, we haven't even begun to focus on your other injuries. You've got a deep slice in your abdomen, lots of burns, busted ribs. Those have to heal, too. We'll give it a few days for everything to finish settling then we will start with things like standing and walking."

"Until then?" Pie asked.

"Until then, you heal. We start with small things. Have you been able to sit up on your own?"

Pie nodded.

"Not for any great length of time, though," He said.

"That's fine, like I said, this is going to be slow." Tali said. She frowned as Pie frowned ever so slightly, so fast she would have missed it if she blinked. "You're not used to this, going slow."

"No," Pie admitted.

Tali sighed some.

"They told me as much as they could about you," She said. "Even 220 IQ. You and your twin sister were requested to design and construct weapons at a young age. At age eight, you two were recruited for other… assignments. Yeah, yeah, I know, classified information, they gave me that whole lecture too. At sixteen, you were selected for the Earth mission along with your brothers, coming back with Mew Aqua. Since day one, everything has been somewhat easy for you. You haven't faced a challenge like re-learning to walk, how to see without your eyes. Things like that won't come overnight. It's a slow process, one that will only work if you have patience. Yes, it's a fight. More than a fight, a war. I know you've already fought one of those."

"And lost," Pie said, but not with any bitterness. He had to give credit to the humans and Mew Mews for fighting so hard, somehow able to defeat everything that he and his brothers had thrown at them. To some extent, he was impressed after the first few battles he had with the five girls. However, that quickly turned to frustration, and then, when the dust had settled of the final battle, he could again reflect on the prowess of his opponents. It had been a terribly long time since he had faced someone like them.

As Tali said, he hadn't had a challenge like the one he was currently facing before. Everything was easy up till then.

But he had thought the same up until he met Tokyo Mew Mew.

Besides, if the way his planet was now, how his people were now, was the result of losing a war, he'd gladly fight in a dozen more and lose every time.

"And lost," Tali repeated, a small smile. "But this is one you're going to win. Can't take it down in one go. You have to take your victories as they come. It's going to be frustrating, especially in the beginning. The only thing I'm truly going to ask of you is to be patient, not only with me, but with yourself. The more you push yourself, the more likely you're just going to hurt yourself all-over again."

Pie didn't respond for a moment, thinking over everything she had said, but then he nodded.

"I will try my best to be patient," He said. "However, I will warn you that patience has never been one of my virtues."

"Well, then it's good that I've got enough to spare, now isn't it?" Tali said with a grin.

With Pie's permission, she performed an assessment of his injuries, mumbling to herself occasionally and pausing frequently to make notes.

"It will still be a few weeks until it will feel like we've made any progress," Tali said at last. "But I think we can start now, if you're up to it."

"Yes," Pie said, starting to work on sitting up.

"You don't have to sit up unless you want to," Tali said. She took both of his hands in hers. "All I want you to do is squeeze my fingers as hard as you can."

Pie did so. After a few seconds, she told him to stop. After a few more seconds, she told him to do it again. They repeated this pattern for a few minutes.

"This was really great," Tali said. "The muscles in your fingers are still very stiff, because they haven't been able to do movements like that in a while. Here, I want you to keep hold of this."

Pie heard the sound of something materializing and then Tali took his hand and held it palm up. With her other hand, she placed a soft sphere into his hand before curling his fingers around it.

"This way, you can do the exact same thing we just did whenever you feel up to it, or are bored, just with this ball instead of my hands. Or, hey, if you get desperate, throw it at someone!" Tali said cheerfully.

"I would probably miss by a mile," Pie said dryly. Tali laughed gently.

"You'd only get better aim each and every time," She said "If you want, you can practice your aim with me."

"Can I assume then that you will be coming by frequently?" Pie asked.

"Once a day, at least," Tali said. "I may not be able to stay as long as I did today every time, but I'll come. Sometimes it'll just be to see you and touch base, but most of the time it'll be for a longer session."

"Thank you," Pie said.

"Hey, don't thank me yet," Tali said as she got to her feet. "You haven't even gotten a chance to have a day where you absolutely hate my guts."

"Why would I hate your guts?" Pie asked, confused.

Tali laughed.

"You'll see," She said cryptically. "They all do eventually."

And, with that, she said her good-byes and left, leaving Pie to wonder just what he had gotten into.

Tali closed the door, still chuckling to herself. She spoke briefly with Risa and Curry before starting down a hall, when she heard from behind her:

"Nukata-San?"

She looked around to see Pie's six siblings standing there. They were all staring at her, the older ones almost curiously. They all looked tired, and a bit sad. Sad, but also hopeful. Tali knew that while this accident and its result was extremely hard and painful for Pie, it was also so for his family.

"You're gonna make Pie Onii-Chan all better, right?" Éclair asked, her arms wrapped around Kish's leg.

Tali smiled and nodded.

"Of course I am," She said. "Pie'll be back on his feet before you know it. It may take some time, but it'll happen."

To her surprise, all six Ikisatashis bowed before saying simultaneously:

"Please take care of Onii-Chan."

Tali bowed in response, giving her a chance to hide her teary eyes, moved by the action.

"I will," She said. "But I'm going to need some help."

"What do you mean?" Tart asked, confused.

"I mean, I'm going to need all of you to help me help Pie," Tali said. The siblings glanced at each other, clearly confused.

"But only Rirī and Éclair are training to be Healers," Kish grumbled. "The rest of us are useless."

"No, you're not," Tali said. "And I didn't mean I needed help as a Healer. I need your help as Pie's brothers and sisters."

"Still not following…" Rirī said.

"Pie has a long road of recovery ahead of him. I know that, he knows that, now I am making sure you all know that," Tali said. "There'll be good days, and there'll be bad days. Pie will need all the love, support and encouragement you can give regardless of whether the day is for better or for worse. Can you all do that for me?"

All six nodded.

"We can do that!" Rōzu said with a grin. Tali smiled again.

"Arigato," She said. Her eyes twinkled. "I have a feeling I will be seeing all of you in the near future."

A few weeks later, Rin arrived at the hospital a little on edge. It had been the first time that Pie had been left alone at night. Pie was completely fine with the idea, as was Risa and Curry, the Healers and Assistant Healers. It was Rin who was paranoid. The Healers all promised her that they would contact the Ikisatashis if something was wrong, and Pie reminded her of their mental connection, something he regretted as she checked on him every ten minutes. Finally, somewhere around midnight, Pie told her good-night and cut her off so that he could get some sleep.

Rin hastily walked down the hall, stopping at the desk.

"Everything went okay?" She asked one of the Assistant Healers, who rolled his eyes and laughed to himself, having expected this.

"He's perfectly fine," He said. "Complained about a headache, though, but it ended around midnight."

"He didn't tell me his head hurt," Rin said with a slight hiss, missing the Assistant Healer's subtle hint that she was the cause of the 'headache'.

With that, she went over to Pie's room. She knocked on the door, but didn't get an answer. She slowly opened the door. She smiled in relief at seeing Pie, still asleep, on the bed. She adjusted a blanket around him, then went over to tidy up the rest of the room, knowing that her mother, Rirī and Kish would be up in a few minutes. After that was done, she went to kneel beside Pie again.

"Pie-Chan," She said in a sing-song voice. "Time to get up."

"I do not want to," Pie grumbled, turning his head away from her. Rin rolled her eyes. Pie, already a sleep-glutton and hard to get out of bed, was now doubly so since being confined to bed.

"Come on, the Assistant Healers will be here in a few minutes to check your vitals and give you your morning medicines," Rin said, gently jostling his shoulder.

"Now I want to wake up even less," Pie mumbled. Rin couldn't blame him for that.

The Healers had said that Pie's eyes were still going to need treatment so that they didn't get infected (invoking a snarky comment from Pie about how he didn't want to lose any more of his sight) and twice a day was given eye-drops that. Although it did nothing to help Pie regain his vision, it was rebuilding his eyes' ability to protect themselves from small irritants like dust, dirt and germs so that there wouldn't be any infections later on down the road. However, they all wondered if those were going to do more harm than good, considering the nightmare that was the first time the eye-drops were put in.

The Healers had just come in and explained why they wanted to use the eye-drops while an Assistant Healer made Pie comfortable lying flat on his back. Rin had been concerned for Pie, noticing that he was blinking a lot and had grasped hold of the sides of the bed. Pie's jaw was clenched as he waited for the drops to be put in his eyes, not knowing what to expect, holding very still.

Pie instantly flinched as the first drop was put in his right eye, turning his head, squeezing his eyes shut, bringing the heel of his hand to his eye, though the Healer tried to get him to move his hand.

"Burns," He gasped. "It burns."

While Rin tried to soothe him and comfort him through their bond, Risa grabbed a washcloth and went to the sink, soaking the cloth with warm water. After wringing out the cloth so that it was only damp, she went over and placed the folded cloth over Pie's eyes. That seemed to do the trick and the burning went away to everyone's relief.

Every time since then, it took two Healers to do the drops so that they could get them in at the same time and usually Rin and Kish to hold down Pie's wrists while someone—more often than not Risa—stood with a damp cloth ready to place it over Pie's eyes. After that, Pie would lie still and quiet for a few minutes, letting the drops work.

"I know you don't like it, but it's what you need," Rin said. "Besides, after that is breakfast. And then Tali's coming this morning, she said that she'd be here before lunch. Then you've got all afternoon to do whatever you want."

Pie reluctantly opened his eyes, turning to her with his dull indigo eyes.

"Fine…" He grumbled. "I am awake."

Rin smiled and hugged her brother.

"Thank you," She said, kissing his cheek.

Rin let go of her brother, then her brow furrowed. There was something poking out from behind Pie's pillow. She reached over and pulled it out, revealing that it was a card made out of stiff paper.

Addressed to both her and Pie.

Rin flipped it over, her eyes widening with horror as she read it.

"Rin?" Pie asked, confused as to why she suddenly cut him off.

"Pie, who was in here?" She whispered suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Pie asked, not understanding Rin's question.

"Pie, who was in here before I got here?" Rin demanded, her voice serious.

"I do not know, Rin. I was asleep when you got here, remember?" Pie said.

"Pie, you have to tell me now, who was in here? Who came in here during the night?" Rin demanded, grabbing Pie's shoulders and shaking him slightly. "Tell me now!"

"Rindou, let go of Pie now!"

Rin looked over her shoulder to see her furious mother glaring at her while Kish and Rirī stood beside her, both looking confused and angered by Rin's behavior.

"What is wrong?" Risa demanded, her tone evident that she was still angry with her daughter.

Rin said nothing but stormed out of the room, clutching tightly to the stiff piece of paper.

"Geez, what got into her?" Kish asked. Pie shrugged, having absolutely no idea.

Rin sat in the stairwell, staring at the piece of paper in her hands as a tear ran down her cheek.

**You were lucky to survive this time. Next time you will not be so lucky. Neither of you.**

It was unsigned. The kanji was printed, not a trace of handwriting that she could identify, even if she knew who it could have possible have been. She didn't have a clue who it could have left this for her and Pie. But she knew that whoever sent the letter was being serious. Deadly serious.

She reached into her skirt pocket, pulling out a small communication device. She keyed in a sequence then brought it up to her mouth.

"This is Ikisatashi Rindou. I was told to call if I remembered anything or found something that would help with the investigation," She said. She took a deep breath as she looked down at the piece of paper again. "Well, I've got something."


	3. Chapter 2

**Late Merry Christmas and early Happy New Year!**

Chapter Two:

Five months after the explosion that had landed Pie in the hospital, he was pronounced significantly recovered from his injuries and able to go back home, for which they were all happy about.

Pie had felt like it was a slow recovery, but the Healers were amazed at how little time it had taken for him to recover given the severity of his injuries. However, they all knew what to accredit it to: the fact that Pie's family was there for him every second.

Curry and Kish were on either side of him as he took his first steps after his legs were healed, hovering nearby as his steps became stronger and more confident. They were also there as he began to use his powers again, far enough away to give him his space, but close enough to catch him if his strength failed.

Rirī, who knew how to ease the pain in his aching muscles after a long day of physical therapy with gentle applications of her fingertips. Even though the pain was considerably less after several sessions of physical therapy, she continued the post-session routine of massaging the muscles that had been used so that they didn't become damaged and maintained the strength they had gained, plus it helped Pie relax and fall asleep easier. She also found that doing something similar helped the scar tissue recover and smooth out. Pie, however, preferred the conversations he had with Rirī during these times, especially since she had a dry and sardonic sense of humor like he did and their talks were predominately filled with sarcastic remarks about each other and the events of their day.

Rin, who everyday took both of his hands in hers and telling him to squeeze them as hard as he could, starting with him barely able to move his fingers and ending with her finally telling him to let go within seconds before he broke her fingers. They also learned that Rin could give Pie brief images of what she was seeing through their mental connection, but she couldn't maintain them for very long, nor could she get more images to follow right after the first.

Tart, who snuck in Pie's favorite foods. The Healers kept all their patients on a very strict diet and Tart realized that this may be all well and good, but there was nothing on the menu that sounded particularly appetizing to Pie, who had very little of an appetite during the beginning of his recovery. After managing to get Pie to tell him what he really wanted to eat and double-checking with Rirī to make sure that nothing on the list would interfere with the medicines, Tart had disappeared for a while and then reappeared, removing the plate of barely picked-at food on the tray in front of Pie and replacing it with the food he had brought. Tart had grinned proudly as Pie savored every bite, the first full meal he had eaten since he woke up. Tart had even brought in a miniature blackberry bush under the disguise of a potted plant and used his powers to make Pie's favorite fruit grow fresh then hid the bush by making the leaves and berries recede when the Healers and Assistant Healers entered the room.

Tart gained accomplices over time, his father, Rirī and Kish in particular, and a handful of unofficial accomplices in the form of Assistant Healers who pretended to not notice. Though they had been more concerned about Risa discovering this deceit, they were found out by a strict Assistant Healer who thought that all the younger Ikisatashi children were trouble (and rightfully so). And so the man told both Pie's Healers and Risa. The former had already suspected and were just glad that Pie was eating in general no matter what it was, especially as he was gaining weight that he had lost as the result of the various surgeries and needed to regain in order to recover. The latter gave her family a strict and firm warning to never let her 'catch' them doing this again, which appeased the Assistant Healer, who—unlike the Ikisatashi brood—was a bit slower on catching Risa's particular word choice. Everyone with the surname Ikisatashi made sure that Risa never saw one bit of unauthorized food and in turn Risa would allow the younger girls to drag her around on walks so that Pie had enough time to eat the contraband.

Rōzu, who made sure he never got bored. She came up with a new game every day: guessing games, word games, and even a role-playing adventure game that had started off very serious and ended up being the most ridiculous tale ever told. She would even come up with games that would coincide with his therapy and made that more enjoyable for him. Tali even began to use Rōzu's games with her other patients and found them just as successful.

Éclair, who really couldn't do much given her age and size, but she gave Pie many hugs and made sure he was comfortable. She encouraged him both with and without words, sometimes just putting her small hand in his large one and giving it a small squeeze.

Risa, who was always patient and loving, comforting him when he was in pain or when he had had a bad day. She was always serene around him, and could calm him from his most foulest of moods, quelling many outbursts of temper. Sometimes she just sat there in silence beside him, stroking his hair or holding his hand or laying her hand on his leg, just do one thing to let him know that she was there for him. She had surprised everyone. A Healer herself, everyone assumed that she would try to heal her own son, but Risa disagreed, pointing out that she was a midwife and this wasn't her area of expertise. "And I have faith in the Healers that are here, and right now I need to be a mother instead of a Healer." She would say before anyone could question her further.

And, of course, Tali, who had quickly become something of a family member to the Ikisatashis. Though she had been right about how there would be days when he hated her guts, Pie and Tali were good friends. She challenged him, not only physically but also mentally. There were some days he thought that her challenges were too much, but she kept pushing him and pushing him until he had mastered the challenge, able to move on from it and go onto the next one. A normal therapy session between the two consisted of playful banter and teasing as well as talking about whatever was going on in their respective lives.

Seeing how much Pie's family was impacting his recovery, Tali made arrangements for Pie to leave the hospital for a day for one of their therapy sessions, inviting the rest of his family to go as well. Tali, Risa and Curry then surprised the seven siblings with a day at an indoor pool. She had been thinking about using the water as another tool in Pie's physical therapy and that it would do him good to get out of the hospital even for a little while. She was also happy to see that it was doing something similar for her six non-patients, who not only were seeing their brother outside of a hospital room for the first time in months but were also getting a chance to play together in a way that they hadn't for a very long time. That, Tali thought, was perhaps the healing they had all needed the most.

Pie couldn't have recovered without his family. He knew that and was very grateful for that. He loved his family very much and knew that they loved him.

But that didn't take away from the fact that he could no longer take care of himself the way he used to. Didn't take away from the fact that he would forever be blind.

Though there were many things Pie could still do for himself, it was still very difficult. It was hard for everyone to watch him struggle with ordinary things: he could walk steadily, but he needed a guide so that he didn't trip or walk into anything; he could use chopsticks, but he couldn't always find the food on his plate and more than often had trouble getting the food into his mouth; he could dress himself, but he always put something on backwards, inside out or didn't match. He knew that he needed time to adjust to the new situation, but that didn't take away the frustration.

There were also some medications he was still taking. Though there were some he was being weaned off of, there was also preventive medications that he had to take so that he didn't get sick, as the removal of Pie's spleen meant that the strength of his immune system had dropped and even catching the common cold could be dangerous. He was also still on the eye drops, or 'acid drops' as Pie bitterly referred to them as. There had been discussions of removing the pacemaker-like device from Pie's chest, but the final conclusion was that it was a surgery that could wait till later, especially as Pie was loathe to go back to the hospital any time soon. Besides, as one Healer had said, they weren't sure what other long term affects the accident would have on Pie's health, and as the device also recorded Pie's heart rate they could look at those and determine a year after the accident whether there was any impact on the heart they hadn't seem as evident before.

Pie also wasn't comfortable being out in public. Risa had brought him along when she went to the town's market one morning. However, she quickly saw how uncomfortable Pie felt being in a sensory over-load environment with so many babbling people and varying smells. She knew he was becoming better at relying on his senses of hearing, touch and smell more than usual. Adding in his own natural hatred of crowds, shyness and being naturally introverted just made the situation overwhelming. Risa quickly bought a few items before heading for home, only a few of which were on her list, though she didn't mention this to Pie. She knew that Pie would feel embarrassed if he found out that they had left before she could get the things they needed because he felt uncomfortable. Risa mentally added yet another thing to their ever-growing list of things they would have to work on: getting Pie used to crowds again. She had held her breath a few weeks later as Pie insisted on going out with Tart and had privately demanded a full report from the younger brother that evening. While Tart had noticed the same tension in Pie, Risa was happy to hear that the uncomfortableness seemed to melt away slowly.

Something that Risa quickly realized that was essential for Pie was having something to do. And so for weeks they had an established routine: Everyone would let Pie sleep longer in the mornings but occasionally he'd wake up in the hustle and bustle of getting everyone else out the door. Risa usually found him on those mornings with Éclair or Rōzu perched on his lap as he braided their hair or tied Éclair's shoes for her. After they were gone, Risa and Pie would eat breakfast together and then Risa would set him a few simple chores like washing dishes or mixing ingredients for meals or the healing potions that she made. Once those were done, they'd go together to pick up the younger three from school, then return home. Pie would sit with his siblings as they did their homework, occasionally being able to help them, until it was time to clear and set the table for dinner.

After supper the seven siblings would hang out, chatting, reading books out-loud and playing games together like they used to before the accident. When they decided to play a card game or something similar, Éclair always climbed into Pie's lap and whispered in his ear about which cards he had in his hand (the older ones pretending they couldn't hear even though their keen ears picked up Éclair's whispers with ease). Pie and Kish could even continue their weekly chess matches, Pie using Rōzu as his eyes and hands. These simple routines gave them all a chance to breathe and return to a normalcy they hadn't had for a very long time.

Although out in public was not Pie's favorite thing, at home with family and visits with friends, Pie was perfectly fine. Occasionally friends would come over; Pie and Rin's friends Yuzu and Vanilla were frequent visitors, as was Curry's younger sister, Ivy, and her family. Tali visited often as well. The first time Tali came over she claimed she was just checking up on Pie and complained that her job was boring now that her favorite patient was gone, but after Risa made it known to Tali that she, her husband and their young daughter (both of whom had also become well acquainted with the Ikisatashis) were always welcome to drop by and did so often.

Life was somewhat normal.

One thing that none of them were expecting was the day after Pie left the hospital, Rin received a message from the head of the lab, asking her to come see him. When she arrived home, she didn't tell anyone what had happened that day. Every morning after that, she was gone before her siblings left for school and didn't arrive home until supper was being put on the table. They noticed she grew more and more frustrated and was often lost in thought.

Two months after Pie came home from the hospital, Rin didn't show up for dinner. They ate without her, assuming that she was held up and just running a little late. After dinner, Pie took Éclair and Rōzu upstairs for a bath before playing a game or two before bed while Rirī, Kish and Tart stayed downstairs to help their parents clean up the kitchen.

Kish looked up from wiping off the table as Rin entered the house, closing the door quietly behind her.

"Hey, Rin, we saved you a plate," He said. Then he frowned, studying her face. "Rin? What's wrong?"

Rin closed her eyes, leaning against the door, her face a mask of anger and sadness.

"Kish, Tart, would either of you happen to have any contact with the Mew Mews on Earth?" She asked softly.

The two boys looked at each other worriedly. Rirī and Curry stopped washing the dishes and Risa turned around, holding the water pitcher in her hands.

"Yeah, I message back and forth with the monkey girl, but I don't really have contact with anyone else," Tart said. "Everything okay?"

"No," Rin said in a whisper, shaking her head as she opened her eyes. "We… we need to get Pie off Cynnth. Go hide on Earth for a while."

"Rin, you are scaring me," Risa said, setting the pitcher on the counter. She approached her daughter with worried eyes and took both of Rin's hands in hers. "Rin, what is going on?"

Rin's eyes started watering and she swallowed hard, looking down at the floor as she was sure she wouldn't be able to speak if she looked at any of them.

"The explosion… it was sabotage," She said in a whisper. "All this time, I've been questioned about what I knew about that night, what I remembered happened before then. I… I helped examine the wreckage. And… we found the source of the explosion.

"It was an unused workstation, not assigned to anyone. There were no experiments going at that area. Someone had gone in and carefully and deliberately set it up so that there would be an eruption at a certain time," Rin couldn't stop the tears from running down her cheeks. "And… it's looking like Pie was the target all along. Or, at least one of them."

Risa clamped her hand over her mouth. The others stood in shock.

Kish reacted first.

"We're leaving tonight," He said in a low, grim voice. "Tart, pack my stuff for me, will you? Curry Oji-San, come with me. We need to check every inch of the ship before we even think about starting the engine."

"What, you think they would rig your ship too?" Rirī asked shakily as water and suds dripped off her hands onto the floor.

Kish glanced over his shoulder at her as he headed for the door, his eyes hard.

"I don't know who we're dealing with, or what they want, but they've already hurt Pie. I'm not taking any chances on the possibility of them hurting anyone else. Or worse." He said

They all shivered at the thought of what could be 'worse'.

"Should we tell Pie and the little girls what's going on?" Tart asked.

"No," Risa said. "Let us… let us keep them in the dark for right now."

They all nodded and Kish and Curry left, leaving Tart, Risa, Rin and Rirī in silence, trying to decide how best to tell the other three that they were taking an impromptu vacation.

* * *

><p><strong>Next chapter, Earth and the Mew Mews!<strong>


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

It was quiet in Café Mew Mew.

Of course, this was only because Pudding wasn't there yet.

So, the silence wasn't going to last long.

The door slammed open and twelve and a half year old Pudding came in, waving a piece of paper, beaming widely and screaming,

"THE BOYS ARE COMING, NA NO DA!"

The other members of the staff merely stared at her in confusion.

"Who's coming?" Sixteen year old Mint asked as she wiped her hands off on her apron.

"TARU-TARU, KISSHU AND PIE ARE COMING FOR A VISIT AND THEY'RE BRINGING THE REST OF THEIR FAMILY WITH THEM AND THIS IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN, NA NO DA!" Pudding yelled, as she twirled around. She put her piece of paper into nineteen year old Zakuro's hands.

"This message from Taruto says that they'll be here this evening," The model said after she read it.

"Really?" Sixteen year old Ichigo said, stepping over towards her friend to look at the paper.

"These, um, 'boys' are the aliens you fought a couple of years ago, right?" Sixteen year old Berry said, brushing a strand of blond hair behind her ear.

"Yeah, but don't worry, I think they're actually coming for a real visit this time, not to take over Earth," Ichigo said, grinning at the newest member of the team.

"Hmm," Zakuro said. "Now this is odd."

"What's odd?" Sixteen year old Lettuce asked as she approached Zakuro as well.

"Here, read this," Zakuro said, handing the piece of paper to Lettuce.

The green-haired girl studied the printed-off e-mail and her brow furrowed. It read,

"**Hey, Monkey-Girl,**

**Wanted to give you and the other Mews a heads up that Kish, Pie, our parents, sisters and I will be coming to Earth tomorrow, estimated arrival time 16:30, Tokyo time. So, don't attack us, k? Our current plan is to come by your freakishly pink headquarters to say hi (AKA, Kish doesn't want to wait long to see the Old Hag, oh, sorry his 'Koneko-Chan' :p), so, yeah, again, don't attack us. Also, another heads up, we don't know how long we'll be staying. But… we may end up needing help from Tokyo Mew Mew. We'll explain when we get there.**

**So, later,**

**Taruto**

**P.S. You better have more of those candy drop things when I get there!"**

"They might end up needing our help?" Lettuce said, looking up, her brow furrowed.

"With what?" Keiichiro asked as he and Ryou left the kitchen, having heard the conversation from in there.

"Tart says that he'll tell us when they get here," Ichigo said, her brow also furrowed. "What trouble have these boys gotten into now?"

Mint looked up at the clock on the wall.

"They'll be here in three hours," She observed.

"THEN WHAT ARE WE DOING STANDING AROUND, NA NO DA? WE NEED TO GET READY, NA NO DA!" Pudding yelled.

"Pudding, how much candy have you eaten today?" Ryou asked teasingly.

Pudding paused, shifting slightly.

"A little bit," She muttered, looking a bit bashful.

"I think this is just a lot of excitement over seeing her Taru-Taru again," Mint said with a smirk. Pudding grinned.

"Pudding's missed Taru-Taru, na no da," She said. "He's Pudding's best friend, na no da!"

"Hey, wasn't he going to visit you a few months ago?" Ichigo asked. Pudding then looked sad.

"Yeah, but then he said that he couldn't come," She said glumly. "He didn't tell Pudding why, na no da."

"Well, maybe he'll have an explanation when he gets here," Lettuce said gently.

Pudding perked up at that and went to get ready for work.

A few hours later, Ichigo was clearing off the last table of the work day, humming softly to herself.

Suddenly, she felt arms wrap around her waist and a voice in her ear said,

"Konbanwa, Koneko-Chan!"

Ichigo leapt about a foot in the air, her cat ears and tail popping out, to the amusement of Kish, who smirked.

"Kisshu, you jerk!" Ichigo screeched, smacking Kish's shoulder with her tray as he laughed. "You're lucky I wasn't transformed or I'd have Ribbon Strawberry Checked your sorry butt!"

"Sorry, Koneko-Chan, couldn't resist," Kish said when Ichigo stopped hitting him, huffing slightly as she glared at him. He spread his arms. "Come here and let me give you a proper greeting."

Ichigo sighed and rolled her eyes, but hugged the alien teen anyways.

"Man, you sure shot up," Ichigo said when they let go of each other. "We were roughly the same height when we last saw each other. Now I have to look up at you."

Kish couldn't stop grinning at that.

Across the room, Pudding was squealing as she was attached to Tart, who was blushing furiously at Pudding's affection and telling her to get off to no avail.

There were several other Cyniclons in the room. There was a girl about Zakuro's height and age with long purple-gray ringlets and dark eyes (the humans thought she looked a lot like Pie, and were not surprised to learn a few minutes later that the two were twins); a small ten year old girl with purple braided pigtails and bronze eyes; a six year old girl with frizzy red hair and big blue eyes; a tiny woman in her thirties with pale purple hair in a long braid and dark purple eyes and a tall man with long auburn hair and bronze eyes.

Kish and Tart introduced their sisters and parents and in turn the Mews introduced Berry and Tasuku. Lettuce noticed that Pie was not among them and was confused; didn't Tart's letter say that he was coming as well? Could he have changed his mind at the last minute?

"Pie and our other sister, Rirī, should be here soon," Kish said when Pudding asked this, shaking Lettuce out of her reverie.

"Well, one out of two isn't that bad, is it?"

They turned as a teleportation portal opened, revealing a small teenage girl with her auburn hair in two messy buns on top of her head and dark eyes.

"Rirī-Chan, where's Pie?" Éclair asked, her brow furrowed.

"The baka refuses to get out of bed," Rirī said, rolling her eyes.

"You left him alone?" Rin said with a slight hiss.

"Yeah, but like I just said, he's not wanting to go anywhere anytime soon," Rirī said. Rin gave her a glare.

"That not what I was worried about," She snapped.

The humans exchanged a confused glance. What was she worried about then?

Risa took a deep breath and said,

"Éclair, Rōzu, how about you two come with me to the ship," She said. "Pie has a particularly difficult time saying 'no' to you two."

The girls nodded and left with their mother.

After they were gone, Kish turned back to look at Ichigo.

"So, judging by the fact that you still have kitty ears that pop out, can we assume you all can still transform into Mew Mews?" He asked.

"Yeah, we can, and Berry's a Mew, too," Ichigo said, nodding. She studied Kish for a moment. "What's going on? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, a lot of things," Kish said, flopping into a chair. He sighed. "Might as well sit down. We've got quite a story to tell."

The humans did so, as did the other Cyniclons, though Tart made himself comfortable floating in midair with his legs folded. Probably to discourage Pudding sitting on his lap. Not that it worked.

"Nearly five months ago, Pie and Rin were working in a small laboratory," Kish said. "One night, there was an explosion. It completely destroyed the lab. There were four scientists there at the time." He paused. "Pie… was one of them."

"Is he okay?" Lettuce asked instantly, eyes going wide. Kish nodded.

"Yeah," He said. "It took him a while to recover, but his wounds healed without any problem, and some with very little scarring. He still gets aches and pains now and then, and his immune system isn't as strong as it used to be, but other than that he's completely healthy."

Lettuce breathed a small sigh of relief.

"However, recently we learned that the explosion wasn't just a lab accident," Rin said. She swallowed hard. "It was deliberate."

"Deliberate?" Mint said. "You mean, one of the scientists set it up?"

Rin shook her head.

"That was an original thought, but the evidence didn't add up," She said.

"We think Pie, and probably Rin as well, are being targeted," Tart said.

"Pie and I… we've ticked off a lot of people," Rin said softly. "Before the Earth mission and Mew Aqua, we were hired out by our government as spies and thieves, as well as weapons designers. We're infamous for the things we've done. "

"Oh, Zakuro Onee-Chan is infamous too, na no da!" Pudding said, almost whacking Tart in the chin with her head as she straightened in his lap. "She has a lot of fan clubs, na no da!"

"Pudding, Zakuro isn't infamous," Ryou said quickly as her human friends all sweat-dropped slightly, the Cyniclons all glancing at Zakuro, whose character was now silently in question. "She's famous. Infamous means well-known for, um, wrong reasons."

"Oh…" Pudding said with realization, eyes going wide. "Pudding's bad, na no da! Sorry, Zakuro Onee-Chan!"

"So, you and Pie were spies?" Ichigo said, getting rid of the awkward moment Pudding inadvertently created. Rin nodded.

"And, at times, more," She said, her voice trailing off. She shook her head. "Anyways, we believe that we will be safe on Earth, at least for the time being."

"But we will need help if our location is found," Curry said. "While Rōzu is undoubtedly skilled with her sai swords, she has never been in a real battle. Éclair has only just begun to learn how to use tonfa, and not at a point where she can truly protect herself. And Pie…" He trailed off for a second and averted his gaze. "We do not know if he will ever to be able to fight as he did before."

"What do you mean?" Lettuce said, her brow furrowed. "You said that he was okay."

"He has recovered well," Rirī said. "But, there was some… damage that couldn't be fixed."

The humans sat up straighter, confused.

"Damage?" Keiichiro said. "What do you mean by that?"

Rin looked up, her face sad. Her next words left the room in utter shock and silence.

"Pie is now permanently and completely blind."

Lettuce felt her heart pound and break at the same time.

Pie… was blind?

Pie, who had worked so hard and endlessly to protect his people, to give them a better life, unselfishly serving, looking death right in the eye without so much of a flinch.

Pie, whose indigo eyes met hers countless times. They never said anything to each other, but looking into his eyes, Lettuce saw a thousand things, a thousand words that were unspoken, millions of emotions that were were not reflected in his face or body language.

Those indigo eyes… that would never see again.

She felt like crying. Crying over someone else's fate.

That someone… who she thought she could just possibly be in love with. For months after that final battle, she had been at war with herself, her emotions. He kept coming back to her mind. What would Pie think of this book? What would Pie say to that? So many questions and she always wondered why she kept coming back to him. Why him? She felt so conflicted over Pie for reasons she couldn't understand. Until she realized, in that moment, what that reason was.

She thought… No. She was certain.

She loved him.

She loved Pie.

"You lied," She whispered. "You said that he was okay, that he's completely healthy again. How is being blind considered 'perfectly physically fine'?"

Rin's chair clattered to the floor as she stood up, her eyes ablaze as she glared at Lettuce. She immediately shrank back at Rin's glare, wishing she hadn't spoken.

"It is considered 'fine' when you are grateful. Grateful that he can still walk, can still talk, can still pick up and hold objects of any size and weight without problems. That all of his organs still work, still has all of his limbs, that he can still breathe, _that he still has a pulse_. No, he cannot see, but we are grateful because we know how bad it could have been."

"Rin, sit down," Curry said, voice tight and lips curved into a frown. Rin ignored him.

"There were three others caught in the same explosion," Rin said. "One has severe brain damage, his family having to care for him as if he were a small child. Another has been in comatose state since that night, and no one is sure if he will wake up.

"And the third? The third _died_. He was dead before a Healer could even try to save him.

"So do we consider Pie to be 'fine' even though he is blind? Yes, yes we do. Because it could have been worse. It could have been a thousand times worse. So I'm sorry that he isn't considered 'fine' by your standards. But he is by mine."

Rin turned on her heel and teleported away.

Lettuce's heart broke even more, and she wondered briefly how that was possible.

"I… I'm sorry," She whispered, closing her tear filled eyes.

"Do not apologize. It is I who has to apologize for Rin's behavior," Curry said softly. "She… she could have responded with a bit more tact than she did."

"Rin's been taking this hard," Kish said, in an attempt to explain and smooth over the mess Rin had made. "Rin and Pie… they've got this connection. They can communicate telepathically with each other, know where the other is at all times and feel whatever they are feeling. But, they are also best friends. They would work on projects together, study together, they even have a combined fighting style. It hurts her that Pie's been hurt, both mentally and physically. That this happened, that it was deliberate, and the end result could have been much worse…" Kish shook his head.

Though she knew that they were saying these things to tell her that she hadn't made a mistake, Lettuce still felt horrible. She didn't feel like she could stay any longer.

"I… I think I should go home now," She whispered.

"Lettuce, you don't have-" Ichigo started to say, but it was too late. Lettuce was out the door. She heard the bell over the door jingle behind her, but couldn't really see anything through the tears in her eyes. Ichigo ran after her in an attempt to comfort her, but by the time she got the door open, Lettuce was gone.

She ran through the park in her Café uniform, not caring that she left her bag and clothes in her locker. She had to get away from there, even though the guilt followed her. Finally, she stopped running, out of breath as she leaned against a tree. Slowly, she slid to the ground, taking off her glasses before burying her hands in her face. At this point, she didn't know what she was crying about anymore. All she knew was it felt good to do so.

Before Ichigo could step outside, Zakuro said,

"Let her go, Ichigo. I don't think she would let anyone approach her right now, and definitely would not let anyone bring her back here."

Reluctantly, Ichigo closed the door and reclaimed her seat. As much as she wanted to go to Lettuce right then, she knew Zakuro was right. If Ichigo, or anyone, tried to comfort Lettuce in that moment she would only reject them. The predominate reason why Lettuce had left was so that she could be alone.

"If she thinks we are upset, she is mistaken," Curry said as he watched the bell finished echoing. "I know I have asked myself the exact same question many times over the past few months. How everything can be fine and yet still feel so wrong."

"I guess when it comes down to it, so much has changed over these past few months. Including our definition of 'fine'," Rirī said softly. She smiled sadly. "It's tough for all of us to watch Pie suffer like this, but when we think about what could have been... We would take this any day."

"How has Pie been handling this?" Ryou asked.

"Surprisingly better than any of us could have thought," Kish said, grinning some. "We thought he'd shut us all out. And there were some days he did. I guess you can call it part of the grieving process. But then he would let us back in. Let us help him."

"Wow," Mint said. "I honestly didn't think Pie would do that."

The Ikisatashis all grinned.

"That's the beauty of it," Rirī said, blinking away her tears. "Neither did we."

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, I know, Rin is being very meanOOC towards Lettuce. It's all part of the plot, I promise.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Happy Valentine's Day!**

Chapter Four:

Pie gripped hard onto the rungs of the headboard as he felt small hands wrap around his ankles, pulling. He buried his face deeper into his pillow, resisting them.

"Get up, Pie-Chan!" Éclair grunted, tugging on her brother's leg.

"No," Pie moaned. "Let me sleep. I love sleep."

"Are you sick or something?" Rōzu demanded. "You don't talk like this unless you're sick."

"I am sick. Lovesick. I am in love with this mattress. We wish to be married and never part. I beg that you support this decision, and recognize that we are very happy together."

Rōzu dropped Pie's ankle and frowned stubbornly.

"I'm getting Mama!" She said threateningly, heading for the door. Pie's only response was a snore. Rōzu growled under her breath. Pie may have won that battle, but the war wasn't over yet!

Éclair sighed and lowered Pie's ankle onto the bed, gazing at her sleeping brother. Suddenly, she smirked mischievously.

Quietly and carefully, she brought her fingers down on Pie's bare foot and tickled. She giggled as she ducked out of the way of his kick as he grunted. They both knew he wasn't ticklish at all—a fact that irked the rest of the siblings—but he still got annoyed when people tried.

"You missed Éclair, Pie-Chan!" She taunted, knowing he wasn't truly aiming to kick her. Pie sat up, turning his head, listening carefully for Éclair's giggles.

"I will not miss a second time," He growled, causing Éclair to giggle some more. That was all Pie needed to locate her and reach out to grab her. She backed away, but he managed to get a grip on her wrist, pulling her to him. With one arm pinning her to his chest, he tickled her stomach with the other hand, causing her to laugh hysterically.

"I told you I would not miss," Pie told her, kissing her cheek as he did so. Éclair laughed as she wriggled in his arms.

"You win, Pie-Chan! Éclair won't tickle you anymore!" Éclair said. Pie stopped tickling her and hugged her tight. She hugged him back. "Are you going to get up now?"

"I will consider it," Pie said, laying back down on the bed. "Are we really on Earth?"

"Yup," Éclair said as she laid beside him, snuggled into his side as he ran his fingers over her hair. "And guess what, Pie-Chan! Éclair met the Mew Mews! _THE_ Mew Mews! They are so cool, and pretty and nice!"

"They are, until you decide to take over their planet, then you wind up getting a face full of Ribbon Lettuce Rush," Pie said musingly.

Éclair frowned slightly at Pie's choice of words. Lettuce… she was the green one… it was odd that Pie often mentioned her, if not directly by name. It was something she had noticed before, long before the accident, and that it seemed to be a subject he avoided after.

"Pie-Chan, did you miss being on Earth?" She asked, watching as something in Pie's expression change ever so slightly, but in a way that Éclair couldn't figure out.

"There were things I missed, yes," Pie admitted.

He could still bring to mind an image of the girl, with her long green hair in thin braids, her big blue eyes framed by thin glasses. How small and fragile she looked. How that changed as soon as she did into her Mew Lettuce form. Still, she wasn't particularly intimidating. But she still had strength to fight, a will to go on even though she didn't like the fighting. She strived for peace, reached out to become friends when her own teammates told her it was useless to do so.

When it came down to it, she was a beauty, inside and out.

A beauty he would never see again.

Pie frowned slightly.

Before the accident, he had considered the possibility of going back to Earth and visiting with Lettuce. In fact, when Tart had asked him to take him to visit his monkey friend, Pie had agreed to pilot the ship, under the premise of using the trip to teach Tart how to fly the ship. He had been looking forward to it, even though he was preparing himself to be heartbroken. After all, she loved Shirogane. They had probably gotten together after he left.

But… could he approach her now? Even if she did return his feelings, wouldn't he be nothing but a burden to her?

No, he couldn't do that to her. Couldn't do that to anyone. He didn't like doing it to his family, though they never complained once. He just couldn't do that to her. Not to mention that he knew that a lot of his injuries had left ugly scarring. He had instantly regretted goading a reluctant Rin to briefly 'show' him what he looked like when he saw the results, especially the scarring in his eyes, the indigo color that his irises were was now faded and foggy with the whites around them dotted with red splotches.

While he wasn't particularly vain, it did make him uncomfortable having this feeling that other people were staring at him, or more particularly at his scars. Even when it was warm, he wore long-sleeved outfits to cover them. But he couldn't do anything about his eyes. Again, he was loathe to burden Lettuce with his newfound fears and awkwardness.

"-Chan? Pie Onii-Chan?"

Pie snapped himself out of his reverie.

"I am sorry, Éclair, what were you saying?" He said.

"Are you okay?" Éclair asked worriedly. "You kind of zoned out…"

"Lost in thought," Pie said, ruffling her curly hair. "I am fine now."

Éclair frowned at him, not that he knew that. She worried about him a lot. It seemed her brothers always somehow managed to give her a reason to worry.

Rōzu and Risa entered the room and Rōzu leapt onto the bed, bouncing the mattress.

"Are you going to get up now, Pie-Chan?" Rōzu asked.

Pie sighed.

"You win, Rōzu. I am getting up," Pie said as he sat up. He knew Rōzu was now grinning victoriously. Risa chuckled at her children as she went to the closet and opened it.

"Get dressed. We are going back to Café Mew Mew," She said, pulling out clothes and tossing them at Pie.

"We'd still be there if Pie-Chan wouldn't be so lazy!" Rōzu chided Pie, tugging on his pigtail. Pie responded by reaching out for one of her braids, finally getting hold of it and giving it a gentle tug. Rōzu grinned and floated out of the room, Éclair on her tail.

A few minutes later, Pie was dressed and the four were ready to head back to Earth.

Éclair's ears pricked up at hearing a teleportation portal and she smiled.

"Rin-Chan didn't have to come get us! We're coming!" She said brightly to Rin.

Rin, however, just gave a glare over her shoulder and stormed off towards her room.

"Well, that was weird," Rōzu said. "Rin's been so grumpy recently."

Pie frowned. That wasn't like Rin at all…

"Rin has been working very hard lately," Risa said gently. "Leave her be. She will be fine. She just needs her space."

The others agreed and they teleported.

The instant his feet touched the tiled floor, Pie felt something small (and he suspected blond) jump onto him.

"Pie-Chan!" Pudding cried out happily.

"Hello, Mew Pudding," Pie said as the little teenager hugged him tightly. He reached his hand up and found soft hair styled in a bob with four small braids. Somehow, he wasn't surprised to learn that her hairstyle hadn't changed in the slightest. Tart would like that. He thought it looked cute on her.

"Pudding! Get off of him!" A prissy and bossy voice—he recognized it instantly as that of Mew Mint—ordered her young comrade. "It's not polite to glomp people the instant they walk, er, teleport, or whatever it is they do when they come into the room!"

Pudding got off of Pie.

"Sorry, Pie-Chan, na no da," Pudding said, her voice without any trace of embarrassment or shyness. Again, no surprise there. "Pudding was just so excited to see you again, na no da!"

Ichigo, Zakuro, Mint, and Ryou all brought their heads into their hands, cringing, while Keiichiro, Tasuku and Berry stood awkwardly, resisting the urge to do the same. Oh, of all the phrases for Pudding to use…

Pie, however, barely seemed to notice. The phrase was so familiar to his ears, and wasn't one he had heard in a long time from others that weren't his parents, siblings, and closest friends. Funny how people stopped saying 'good to see you' when you stopped seeing.

"It is a pleasure to cross paths again with you, Pudding," Pie said in response to Pudding, who beamed.

It didn't seem like much, but it was enough to get the ice broken all around.

Pie was introduced to Berry, who seemed a little shy but perky nonetheless, as well as her boyfriend and the Mews explained how Berry became the newest member. Ichigo also gave Kish a hard time for leaving Chimera Animal parasites on Earth, to which he merely looked abashed and said 'Ooops?', causing Ichigo to smack his shoulder and everyone else to start laughing. The humans wanted to know all about Cynnth: did the Mew Aqua work? What were some of the new places there? What kind of animals were there? It was like the enmity, bitterness and hatred between the two races never happened, like they had all been friends forever.

After a while, though, Pie realized something. He had yet to hear Lettuce's voice, or anyone speak to her or call her by name.

"Oh, she wasn't feeling well so she went home early," Ichigo responded quickly when he commented on this.

"Ah," Pie said, trying to push away his feeling of disappointment. He forcefully reminded himself of his promise to not be a burden to Lettuce.

_Get her out of your head, Pie,_ He ordered himself. _She should not even be there in the first place._

Sometime later, the Cyniclons bade their human friends farewell for the evening and headed back to their ship.

"You're back." Rin commented, a bit snipingly. "About time."

"Hey, you could've stayed," Tart said with a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Didn't particularly care to," Rin said with a shrug before floating a way.

"What? Is it just that time of the month or something with her?" Rōzu asked as soon as Rin was gone, her nose wrinkled.

"What time of the month?" Éclair asked, confused, causing the others to cringe.

"Never mind," Risa said and ushered the younger two to the kitchen to help her prepare for supper.

Pie frowned and decided to follow Rin, trailing his fingers down the wall as he floated.

Rin paused at the entrance to the lab. It had always been a habit for her to look around when alone. Especially because the person who tended to follow her the most was also the quietest ninja alive, sighted or not. She sighed.

"What do you need, Pie-Chan?" She asked as she leaned against the door, studying her brother as he made his way down the hall.

"What's wrong, Rin?" Pie asked, tilting his head slightly at hearing her voice, a habit he had picked up of late. She sighed.

"Nothing's wrong, Pie-Chan," She said.

"Yes, there is, I can hear it in your voice," Pie argued, coming closer to her. She held still, letting his blind fingers trail down her arm until he found her hand.

"I'm just tired, Pie," Rin said, unable to look at her twin. "I haven't been sleeping well."

"That's not all," Pie muttered. "You just do not want to talk to me."

Rin sighed.

"I just have a lot of work to do," She said. "This may be a vacation, but I still have things to work on."

"Ah," Pie said with realization.

Of course, things would have to eventually go back to business. Of course, this was what Rin must have been doing every day, back to the test tubes and experiments. No wonder she was tired.

Rarely did the twins work on a project without the other. It was harder for them to work on a project on their own, and very tiring. When they were together, they could wordlessly work, knowing exactly what needed to be done and instantly know which one would do it. If they worked alone, both ended the day exhausted and often in a bad mood. It had been the cause of many headaches for Pie while he, Kish and Tart were on the Earth mission. No wonder she was so snippy…

"Can I help you?" Pie asked.

Rin hesitated and Pie frowned. Though she was currently blocking her mind from his, he knew she was mentally going through a list of anything and everything he could accidentally hurt himself with in the lab.

"Not at this time…" She said slowly. Pie's frown deepened.

"I would like to be able to get back in the lab someday." He said. "And fight again."

"I know you do," Rin said, pulling her brother into a hug. "But that day isn't today. I'm sorry."

"No you are not," Pie snapped, pulling away from her. "I cannot see anymore, but I can still hear, can still pick up on your mood, your tone of voice. And I know you do not want me in that lab, today or any day, ever again."

Rin frowned and turned her head away stubbornly.

"That's not true," She whispered.

"Is it not, though?" Pie asked. Rin hesitated.

"I have work to do," She said at last, her voice cold. "Tell Mama I've already ate. Can you find your way to the kitchen on your own?"

"Yes," Pie said, his voice cool as well. He felt for the wall again and laid his palm against the cool metal before floating down the hall. He paused for a second and looked over his shoulder. "I am not useless, you know."

"Never said you were," Rin said softly.

"Not out loud, no. You have not said so with words," Pie said.

Rin said nothing but stormed into the lab, the door hissing shut behind her. Pie frowned, hurt by her actions. He closed his eyes and floated down the hall, his fingers not leaving the wall.

It seemed that more and more recently they had been having fights like this. He hadn't realized before, but they were there. The little arguments and feelings of annoyance with each other. They never had before. Had his blindness caused even more harm than the Healers could diagnose?


End file.
